Sale + Coupon = Fantastic Deal

I'm sure by now you've noticed that the coupons in last Sunday's paper rocked! I always snag two copies of the paper on the first Sunday of the month because that's when the P&G Brand Saver comes out!

There are many sites out there that tell you exactly what sale to pair with what coupon (even when the coupon came out) but I'm not going to do that. Why?
1. Why would I waste my time doing that when I could just give you their links and they've already done it?
2. I think you need to know how to snag these deals for yourself. What if money got so tight that you couldn't afford to have Internet anymore? You would need these deals more than ever, but if you'd never done it for yourself, would you be able to do it effectively?

So, I'm going to give you a few examples of what you're looking for and tell you how I go about it. Do I look at the "other" sites? Yes, every week, to make sure I didn't miss anything. Sometimes I've missed a deal or two and sometimes I've come up with one that they didn't have listed. The heart of the matter, however, is that I know I can pair the sales with the coupons all by myself, so if I didn't have Internet tomorrow, I would be just fine. I'm self-sufficient in this area, and that's the way I prefer it!

If you want to check out the deals that have already been compiled, my three all-time favorite sites are My Frugal Adventures, The Frugal Girls, and Money Saving Mom. All three of these sites have listings for major chain stores. You just pick the store you're going shopping at, click on it, and a list of deals (and steals) will pop up! I still recommend that you attempt to do this yourself, THEN look at the other sites. Think of it as doing your homework and then checking it in the back of the textbook to make sure you really know what you're doing -- in case there's ever a test!

There's also the chance that you'll come up with something that these ladies don't! For example, I am in love with the Olay Daily Facials, but boy are those suckers expensive! They're around $6 for a one-month supply at Wal-Mart. I hate giving that for them, and I rarely do as I almost always have a $1 off coupon from the P&G insert, but I don't like giving $5 either. Well, thanks to a CVS price slash and a coupon, we won't have to give anywhere near $5! CVS has slashed the price (I'm afraid I don't know how long for -- my guess would be just this week but it may be longer) down to $3.99! That in itself is a good deal, but it gets better. There was a coupon in the P&G insert this week for $2 off any Olay facial cleanser. The wording is the same as the $1 coupons I use every month, so I assume it's good on the cleansing cloths too! That brings your price down to $1.99 for a one-month supply!

That's a good example of what you're trying to do. You want to pair a sale with a coupon to bring the price as low as you possibly can! Most people are tempted to run straight to the grocery store with their coupons and use all the ones for items they normally use. While you'll still be saving money that way, if you wait a week or so until the item is on sale, you'll save way more! Just remember: most coupons don't expire for at least a month after they come out, so it won't hurt anything to wait a week or two to see if that item goes on sale!